Originally Posted by 2Dogs
What's on a map and how it's surveyed and what's actually on the ground ( surface area sq feet ) are different, it's 2D V 3D, apples and oranges . A section on the ground in the mountains of Northeast Alabama is "bigger " on the ground than a section of LA flat land. The steeper it is the more surface you have.

Yep. It’s very noticeable on tree planting jobs when you buy trees and quote a job for a flat acreage but it’s very hilly. Tree planters always plant several acres more trees than expected because surface acres and flat acres are not the same! Trying to get the local NRCS offices to honor that is challenging because their acreages are estimated on 2D